


Cheater

by biohazard603



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Cheating, F/M, Married Couple, Older Man/Younger Woman, Older Woman/Younger Man, Protective Older Brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 19:31:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5598103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biohazard603/pseuds/biohazard603
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elia has a Lover </p><p>or </p><p>Rhaegar gets a taste of his own medicine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheater

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year!!!! I hope that everyone has a had a Great 2015 and will have an even better 2016!!!
> 
> Please note: In this story Aegon Blackfyre will be referred to as Griff and he is NOT RELATED to Elia nor Rhaegar! They are not related at ALL!

The sand is hot under Rhaegar’s feet as he walks across the beach. Rhaenys and Aegon run ahead racing each other to where the Starks had already set up umbrellas and towels. They were the last ones to arrive. The beach they were supposed to go to had been changed last minute and Rhaegar had forgotten that until he was already half-way to the other beach.

  
After the affair he and Lyanna (and Elia) had tried to work it out but the illusion didn’t last. Lyanna didn’t understand like he thought she would and she had told him he wasn’t what she thought he was. And Lyanna had no interest in trying to help him regain power. She just wanted to be “free” so they broke up. Lyanna was granted custody of their son under the condition that she and Jon were to stay in King’s Landing and that Rhaegar would have visitation rights.

  
Thankfully, he had his wife. At first Elia had filed for divorce, even though he had not wanted to divorce her (but unfortunately polygamy was illegal), but divorce was a drawn out process. He and Lyanna broke up before the divorce had gone through. And he then convinced Elia to stay with him. It had not been easy but his wife was so good and understanding.

  
Lyanna’s family had come down to see her. They had all decided they wanted to have a summer beach party and they had invited him, Elia, and the kids to join them. Elia said she had things to do but told him to take the kids and go. The Starks greet him rather awkwardly. He knows it’s because other than Lyanna no one else here thinks well of him. They were not his biggest fans. He hugs Jon and kisses both his cheeks but Jon is not interested in staying by him and helping him feel a little less uncomfortable. Jon wiggles out of his arm and runs to the water to join his half-siblings and his cousins.

  
Lyanna hands him a drink, beer, and he thanks her. She doesn’t stay and talk to him like he hopes. Instead she walks toward a rather muscular woman and wraps her arms around her. Brienne Tarth, Rhaegar recognized her, Lyanna’s new significant other. He had been a little shocked when Lyanna had told him she was seeing a woman. He had seen her a couple of times before. The first time was when Lyanna had brought Brienne as a date when she had come over with Jon for dinner with him and Elia and the kids.

  
He watches the lesbian couple embrace, he can’t stop his stomach from clenching slightly and his throat burns a bit, for a few minutes and sips his beer. The beer was awful. He rakes his teeth over his tongue a few times to try and get the taste to go away. He just stands around holding the foul-tasting beer in one hand. He normally doesn’t mind just observing but he feels very unwanted here. He wishes that Elia had come along too. He wouldn’t have been alone if she had. She would have kept him company and she was a great mediator between him and the Starks. They were always nicer when she was around.

  
He looks over at where Lyanna had been but she isn’t there anymore. She and Brienne were in the water splashing around with all the kids. With no friendly faces on the sand Rhaegar puts down his beer, takes off his shirt, and decides to join them.

  
The air is salty as Rhaegar walks down the boardwalk. He is alone everyone else is at the resort where Lyanna’s family was staying. They had ended playing around on the beach for quite a long time – hours. Everyone had been starving so they had gotten dinner together and when it was time to leave Rhaenys and Aegon had thrown a fit. Rhaegar had really not wanted to stay but Jon (under the guidance of Rhaenys) had guilted him into it you always leave so soon papa, I never get to hang out with you or Aegon or Rhaenys. And so now all his children and their cousins were watching Frozen in the hotel room. He had texted Elia (she didn’t pick up his call) and told her and she had been fine with it, “enjoy” she replied back.

  
He needed a cigarette. Smoking was a bad habit, he knew and he was trying to quit, but dealing with the poorly hidden dislike of him from the Starks had worn him out. Most of the shops that were still open, it was kind of late, were little cafes that sold pizzas or coffee or various flavored ice-creams. Eventually Rhaegar finds a little store that looks like it sells cigarettes. It is a little stereotypical beach souvenir shop. They have swimsuits, towels, postcards, and key chains. They also sold customized “couple-t-shirts” the sign said to inquire inside. Rhaegar was really just interested in cigarettes but as he strolls through the store towards the register he glances around at the merchandise.

  
He stops in his tracks. There, a couple of feet in front of him is Elia, or at least someone that looked very much like her. She was looking at post cards her back to him. Rhaegar is a little confused and surprised but excited Elia had said she probably wouldn’t be able to come down. He had asked her to try when he had texted to let her know the kids wanted to spend the night. He hoped it was her.

  
She was wearing a football jersey, King’s Landing University, where he and Elia had gone and where Lyanna is currently going, with a number and a name that he doesn’t recognize. The jersey is of mid-thigh length so her pretty sun-kissed thighs and legs are on display and she is wearing flip-flops. Sand is clinging to her feet and toes. Her hair is wet and dripping. He wants to go up to her and hug her, her companionship would make this trip much more enjoyable, but he still has his doubts about whether it really is Elia. He doesn’t want to grab a random person. So he decides to check by calling her. He takes out his phone and dials her number. Sure enough, a phone starts to ring, it’s Elia. Rhaegar grins delighted as she lifts her jersey up, she’s wearing a black-and-red bikini underneath, and takes out her phone that was tucked in the waistband of her bikini bottom. He is holding his phone up to his ear and he is waiting for her to answer so he can tell her to turn around and surprise her.

  
But Elia doesn’t pick up. Instead she just stares at the screen and Rhaegar feels a little upset. Soon the phone stops ringing and it tells him to leave a message after the beep. He ends the call without taking his eyes off of Elia. He watches as she types something on her phone and then he gets a text message. Can’t talk. Text me.

  
Right before he can call her name someone, with a deep voice, calls out “babe!” A guy with long blue hair and a muscular build strides toward Elia waving two t-shirts “the shirts came out great!” There is a tightness in Rhaegar’s chest as he watches the boy, who seemed vaguely familiar, and Elia delight over the t-shirts. Were they the “couple” t-shirts?

  
It’s Elia. There was no mistaking the woman who was wrapped up in the man’s arms. He tries to deny it to himself as he watches her bury her face in the blue-haired man’s chest. And then she looks up, with a smile, and presses her lips up to his and Rhaegar has trouble swallowing. The bastard gropes his wife’s ass, with a smile Rhaegar wanted to wipe off his face, and doesn’t stop even when they pull apart. Rhaegar’s insides are clenched together tightly and he moves on instinct.

  
He walks up and removes the man’s offending hand from her ass, with more force than needed, and pulls Elia towards him. He doesn’t look at Elia but he can feel her staring up at him “Rhaegar” she says softly sounding a little shocked. The guy recognizes him and he just stares at Rhaegar in shock. Rhaegar glares back at him. “Rhaegar” Elia is saying his name louder now in a pleading sort of tone. Rhaegar glances at her. He grabs her hand and turns to leave but the other man grabs his arm and stops him.

  
This time Elia says the other man’s name “Griff” like a plea. And suddenly Rhaegar knows where he had seen this bastard. He was one of Lyanna’s classmate’s, who was like a year younger than her, from the University and he was Jon Connington’s favorite intern. The boy lets go of him but he doesn’t move continuing to block Rhaegar and Elia’s path to the exit. “It’s my fault” Griff starts “Elia didn’t do anything wrong. It was all me and she is not to blame in any way.”

  
“Griff” comes Elia’s voice again and Rhaegar doesn’t want to hear her say another man’s name like that. All breathless and touched. With one last glare Rhaegar shoves his way past Griff pulling Elia along behind him. He hears Elia begging, in whispers, to her lover, who walks after them, to leave “Please just go! I’ll be fine Rhaegar won’t lay a hand on me.” That makes him stop in his tracks and Elia walks into him and she loses her footing. He would never ever lay a hand on Elia or any other woman for that matter. Never under any circumstance and the fact that someone thought he would made him so irate. Both he and Griff go to steady Elia and suddenly Rhaegar can’t take it anymore.

  
He pulls Elia to the side, out of the way, and punches Griff in the face. It turns into a brawl and somehow Rhaegar ends up on the sidewalk taking punches to his face. His vision gets blurry and then the world turns black.

  
He wakes up in a bed with his head pounding. Elia was by his side in a chair with a bandage over her nose and was watching him worriedly. They were in an emergency room at some hospital. “Rhaegar” she says softly, she had been crying, her eyes are red and puffy, as he blinks up at her. His eyes adjust to the light and he looks at her moving his hand to cup her face. “What happened?” he asks, he was talking about the bandage on Elia’s nose, he hoped it wasn’t serious and that she wasn’t hurt anywhere else. He hated to see her hurt. “How do you feel? Do you feel alright?” Elia’s voice cracks and she leans into his hand “I’m so sorry Rhaegar.”

  
Rhaegar’s heart clenches at her apology and he feels his own tears forming. “It’s okay” he says his voice cracking like hers did “I love you.” He had to make sure she knew. He wasn’t stupid. He was aware his relationship with Elia had never fully recovered after Lyanna. They weren’t the way they used to be.

  
Elia had been so gracious about everything. She welcomed Lyanna and Jon into the family, she helped Lyanna get settled into King’s Landing, and taught Rhaenys and Aegon that Jon was their brother. She helped him regain power again, helped him campaign, and helped him see that his mother and siblings were taken care off. And when he and Lyanna could no longer make it work she took him back as well. Elia had always been on his side. And Rhaegar had been, and still was, so so grateful.

  
“I love you too” Elia says a little sadly. Rhaegar gives her a small smile and moves to hold her hand. Her hand is soft and warm in his. He curls his fingers in between hers and Elia lets him. “What happened to your nose?” he asks gently. Elia is nonchalant as she shrugs “I got in the middle and I got wacked in the face. Broken nose.” It was Griff that hit her Rhaegar knew and anger bubbles up inside of him. He would break more than just Griff’s nose if he ever got a hold of that kid. That bastard should have been more careful. The anger must have shown on his face because Elia frowns at him “It was no one’s fault. It was an accident so don’t do anything unnecessary.”

  
Elia explains to him what happened. Rhaegar had gotten knocked out (Rhaegar is a little embarrassed that he lost) and been unresponsive so Elia had brought him to an emergency room (they were placed in a private room though because Rhaegar was a VIP) in a hospital near the beach. She tells him the doctors suspected he had severe bleeding in the brain but his MRI scans showed it wasn’t too bad and the doctors had said he would recover fully, with a few weeks of rest. It was vital he take a break and relax for bit. Stress would have a negative impact on his recovery. But he was going to be fine. Elia sounds so relieved, and she gives him a little genuine smile, when she tells him that. But her smile fades and she looks down at her lap before telling him “Lyanna called.” She looks at him “I didn’t answer because I wasn’t sure” she looks down at her lap again “you wanted her to know that you were with me.”

  
They had never talked about Lyanna. What with Elia being so kind and accepting they had not gotten into any arguments and Rhaegar had not brought it up. It was a painful topic and Rhaegar did not want to bring it up and hurt her. His mother had told him to talk to her “you both can’t just pretend you didn’t – that you didn’t hurt her Rhaegar. You need to talk to her. Maybe you and Elia should go see a marriage counselor.”

  
Rhaegar had ignored his mother’s advice, mainly because he and Elia were so busy, he didn’t want the media to think he and Elia were having problems, and also because his mother had no idea what she was talking about when she said he pretended that he never hurt Elia. He knew that he had hurt her and he had done his best to make it up to her. He bought her flowers, lots of sunflowers because they were her favorite, jewels, and books. He learned how to cook her favorite meal and he made it for her. He wrote her a song and he took Valentine's day very seriously.

  
His attempts had not gone entirely unrewarded. Elia had been delighted when he had cooked for her. She had eaten well and was full of praise. But still all of her smiles had been a little sad and they had all been so fleeting. Elia had gotten so far away from him.

  
She didn’t wait for him anymore. They had both had to work overtime when they first got back together and he didn’t find her struggling to stay awake, if she made it home first, like she had at the beginning of their relationship when they had first gotten married before everything. And she never asks him where he was when he comes him late. On the nights when he comes back late her “welcome back”, if he had accidently woke her, always sounded like “good-bye”. Elia didn’t talk to him about anything but work or their kids. He missed those lively conversations they would have about dreams or their day and when Elia would rant to him about her favorite t.v. shows (which were mainly reality t.v. shows). Keeping up with Cersei Lannister was one of her favorites (she claimed it was for politics “we need to be aware of their plans Rhaegar! I am just gathering intelligence. Why else would I watch it? I don’t even like Cersei.”) Rhaegar knew better though, Elia had even called him about that show, normally she would wait until he got home (“ Rhaegs, you will not believe what happened! Guess guess guess!” Elia hadn’t given him anytime to guess. Cersei tried to kiss Jaime! And not a friendly brother-sister kiss either, I’m talking attempt on the mouth with tongue TOUNGE! Bless the holy seven. I mean yeah Cersei was drunk, totally wasted, but still).

  
No one else talked to him like that or about things like that. Rhaegar’s few attempts at trying to draw Elia into conversations like they used to fell flat. Elia said she didn’t watch the show anymore and while she indulged him in conversations about books and dreams Rhaegar could see her heart wasn’t in it. It hurt so much to have to make small-talk with Elia when they used to share their deepest secrets with each other.

  
Rhaegar’s heart drops when she says that. “Lyanna and I are over. Completely finished. There is nothing between us. She has her girlfriend and I” Rhaegar pauses to swallow thickly. “I love you. Elia I swear” he squeezes her hand wishing she would just look at him “I want to be with you. You’re my wife.”

  
Rhaegar didn’t know what to do. He racked his mind trying to think of something anything that would make her believe him. Elia thought he was seeing Lyanna? Was that why she had been so distant? Why she had gone to someone else? His insides are curled up unpleasantly at the memory of Elia kissing someone else. He didn’t want to lose her. He couldn’t lose her. Not Elia.  
Suddenly a machine he was hooked up to starts beeping and a nurse rushes in. Elia is looking at him now worry clearly showing on her face. She looks scared as a doctor comes in and holds his eyelids open. The doctor asks him to look up and to the side as he shone a flashlight in Rhaegar’s eyes. He hears Elia’s voice “What’s going on? Is everything okay?” After checking his eyes and his pulse the doctor seems to relax a bit and turns to Rhaegar and Elia.

  
“Everything seems to be okay” the doctor reassured them. “We came in because” he points towards the machine that beeped “your blood pressure was high and we were afraid bleeding would restart and there would be swelling in the brain.” The doctor looks at them “I cannot emphasize how important it is that you keep your heart rate and blood pressure under control. If you don’t you massively increase the risk of brain hemorrhage and swelling, which is very bad.” Elia is nodding “right of course” she says. “We want to keep you overnight for observation” the doctor says and Elia takes Rhaegar’s hand again and looks at him before saying “of course. That’s fine.”

  
“Listen” his wife says after the doctor leaves “don’t worry about anything okay. Just relax and recover.” Elia looks so concerned and upset that Rhaegar feels a vindictive satisfaction bubble up inside of him. She was worried about him not that boy. He decides to play the situation to his advantage. He scoots over to the side of his bed and pats the space next to him. In the past when Elia was in the hospital or bedridden she would scoot over and Rhaegar would climb in next to her and they would cuddle. Elia hesitates but climbs in after a glance at the machines Rhaegar was hooked up too.  
The bed is big enough for both of them but it is a tight fit. Exactly what Rhaegar was hoping for. They both lay on their side facing each other, Elia has her head on his arm and Rhaegar wraps his other arm around her waist. He is disappointed to see Elia looks a bit uncomfortable. He wonders if she wanted to be cuddling with Griff. That thought comes with bad feelings.

  
They snuggle in silence for a bit. They play a little game of peek-a-boo, sneaking glances at each other and then looking away when they get caught, until Elia speaks. “The kids … did they have fun?” she looks at him. They make small talk about the their kids and Rhaegar calls Lyanna, in front of Elia, and tells her he was with Elia and that they would come back in the morning to pick up Rhaenys and Aegon.

  
Rhaegar struggles to stay awake, so rare were the occasions that Elia would be this close to him now-a-days, he wanted to bask in it. He closes his eyes and right before he completely loses consciousness, the last thing he feels, is Elia climb out of bed.

  
Rhaegar wakes up a bit disoriented. It takes him a minute to realize where he is. He also realizes, to his great disappointment that Elia was nowhere to be seen. He grabs his phone and he can’t stop himself from wondering if maybe she was with Griff. He frowns. But she wasn’t Elia walks in with waffles and coffee right as he unlocks his phone about to call her. “How are you feeling?” she asks. “Fine” Rhaegar says, he doesn’t mention he the jealously that had bubbled in his stomach just seconds before. Elia fills him in on the arrangements she made for him (“you need to rest and not worry about work things. I already rescheduled your appointments or made arrangements for someone else to take them) as they eat. “I think we should see a marriage counselor” he says and Elia looks surprised. She opens her mouth to say something but decides against it. She has an unreadable expression on her face as she turns back to her waffles. Soon after breakfast the doctors do a quick check and Rhaegar is discharged. He and Elia take a taxi (he finds out that Griff had picked Elia up from their house in his car. And the only reason they came to this beach was because Elia had thought Rhaegar was going to the other beach. She, like him, had forgotten about the last minute change) to the beach do they can go pick up Rhaenys and Aegon.

  
They don’t talk much during the ride there. The taxi driver is right there and Rhaegar doesn’t want to be overheard. He takes a hold of one of Elia’s hands as they walk into the lobby where of the hotel. Elia is startled at first but she doesn’t pull away. Rhaenys and Aegon are absolutely delighted to see he brought their mother “mama!” and very curious about what happened to her nose. Elia tells them she accidently hurt herself and Rhaegar thinks, bitterly, that it was Griff who hurt her. But he doesn’t say anything.

  
Everyone was much nicer now that Elia was here. The kids start playing amongst themselves again and he stands next to Elia, with one arm wrapped around her waist, as Eddard Stark, his wife Catelyn Stark, and Brandon Stark engage them in conversation. The other Starks are elsewhere Rickard was watching T.V. with Benjin and Lyanna was in her room with Brienne. Rhaegar is only half-listening to the conversation. He watches his kids play and tries not to think about how hard it would be for them if he and Elia were to divorce.  
He is distracted from his thoughts by Elia’s laughter. It’s a soft tinkling sound. The sound of it brings a smile to his face and he watches Elia as she leans forward and says something else to Catelyn that makes both women giggle.

  
Rhaenys and Aegon are so exhausted that Rhaegar and Elia have to carry them to their car. The Starks help them load their beach things into the trunk and wave goodbye. Rhaegar kisses also sleepy Jon again, who was on Lyanna’s shoulder, and promises him that they would see each other soon. Lyanna moves to give him a quick hug good-bye as well and Rhaegar can feel Elia move away. He pats Lyanna on the back, tells Jon he loves him and that he will see him this weekend, and then he and Elia are on their way home.

  
Elia insists on driving, “you have head injury driving in that condition is dangerous!,” and Rhaegar is a little disappointed that she keeps both hands on the steering wheel. He had wanted to hold her hand. The ride home is almost quiet the only noises were the little snores of their little darlings in the backseat.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it!  
> I have actually been sitting on this fic for a while but I finally got around to posting it!!! I have one more new fic that I will likely post but after that I will work solely on updating my old ones!!! I apologize to everyone who has been waiting!!! I will get to it next year (Lol)!!!


End file.
